Zh. Ryssaldiyev, B.A Torekeyev, A. Dauletbayeva

Taraz State Pedagogical Institute, Kazakhstan

COOPERATIVE LEARNING AS AN EFFECTIVE WAY OF TEACHING AFOREIGN LANGUAGE AT SCHOOL

As Long states Cooperative Learning theory incorporates the idea that the best learning occurs when students are actively engaged in the learning process and working in collaboration with other students to accomplish a shared goal [1; 14]. While Constructivism focuses on personal experience as the foundation for learning new material, Cooperative Learning utilizes not only the student’s own experience to solidify knowledge, but also uses the experiences of others. Both theories emphasize the importance of interactivity with respect to the design and implementation of lesson plans.

In cooperative learning, the focus moves from teacher-centered to student-centered education. Instead of sitting in a lecture or reading text, students are given a task or problem and are asked to identify a possible solution on their own and with the help of others. Rather than disseminating information directly, the teacher guides students to the source of the information they may require. In contrast to traditional teaching methods where students are perceived to be empty vessels awaiting the teachers’ knowledge, Cooperative Learning theory recognizes the importance of the student’s existing knowledge and puts that knowledge to work.

When cooperative learning is incorporated into the classroom, research suggests students learn with greater depth and complexity while enjoying the experience even more. Students who are asked to work together also tend to be less intimidated by the task and will work at the task with greater intensity for longer periods of time.

In cooperative, online learning, students solve problems, answer questions, formulate questions of their own, discuss, explain, debate, write, or brainstorm during class. These students constantly analyze, puzzle over significance, search for explanations, and speculate about relations between the new experience and what they already know. Other active learning pedagogies include drama, role-playing and simulation, and peer teaching.

In addition, traditional text can be intermingled with interactive exercises so that students can pace themselves while reading, yet still complete complementary interactive experiences alone or in cooperation with others. Moreover, interactivity can overcome the inherent limitations of textbook and lecture-based learning. The most effective learning is experiential and occurs, for example, when students go out into nature, or on ships, or to hospitals, or into outer space. As such travel is unrealistic, the use of web technology creates possibilities that are limited only by the imagination [2; 12].

Research has shown that cooperative learning techniques:

- promote student learning and academic achievement

- increase student retention

- enhance student satisfaction with their learning experience

- help students develop skills in oral communication

- develop students' social skills

- promote student self-esteem

- help to promote positive race relations

Brown discusses the 5 basic and essential elements to cooperative learning [3; 21]:

1. Positive Interdependence

Students must fully participate and put forth effort within their group

Each group member has a task/role/responsibility therefore must believe that they are responsible for their learning and that of their group

2. Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction

Member promote each other’s success

Students explain to one another what they have or are learning and assist one another with understanding and completion of assignments

3. Individual Accountability

Each student must demonstrate master of the content being studied

Each student is accountable for their learning and work, therefore eliminating “social loafing”

4. Social Skills

Social skills that must be taught in order for successful cooperative learning to occur

Skills include effective communication, interpersonal and group skills

- Leadership

- Decision-making

- Trust-building

- Communication

- Conflict-management skills

5. Group Processing

Every so often groups must assess their effectiveness and decide how it can be improved

In order for student achievement to improve considerably, two characteristics must be present

a) Students are working towards a group goal or recognition and b) success is reliant on each individual’s learning.

a. When designing cooperative learning tasks and reward structures, individual responsibility and accountability must be identified. Individuals must know exactly what their responsibilities are and that they are accountable to the group in order to reach their goal.

b. Positive Interdependence among students in the task. All group members must be involved in order for the group to complete the task. In order for this to occur each member must have a task that they are responsible for which cannot be completed by any other group member.

There are three basic ways students can interact with each other as they learn. They can compete to see who is "best"; they can work individualistically on their own toward a goal without paying attention to other students; or they can work cooperatively with a vested interest in each other's learning as well as their own.

Even though these three interaction patterns are not equally effective in helping students learn concepts and skills, it is important that students learn to interact effectively in each of these patterns. Students will face situations where all three interaction patterns are operating, and they will need to be able to be effective in each situation. They also should be able to select an appropriate interaction pattern suited to the situation.

When examining the research comparing students learning cooperatively, competitively, and individualistically, a very interesting paradox develops. Common practice in schools today has teachers striving to separate students from one another and have them work on their own. Teachers continually use phrases like, "Don't look at each other's papers!", "I want to see what you can do, not your neighbor!" or "Work on your own!". Having students work alone, competively or individualistically, is the dominant interaction pattern among students in classrooms today. The paradox is that the vast majority of the research comparing student-student interaction patterns indicates that students learn more effectively when they work cooperatively. The data suggest:

1) Students achieve more in cooperative interaction than in competitive or individualistic interaction. The results indicated that cooperation seems to be much more powerful in producing achievement than the other interaction patterns and the results hold for several subject areas and a range of age groups from elementary school through adult.

2) Students are more positive about school, subject areas, and teachers or professors when they are structured to work cooperatively.

3) Students are more positive about each other when they learn cooperatively than when they learn alone, competitively, or individualistically - regardless of differences in ability, ethnic background, handicapped or not.

4) Students are more effective interpersonally as a result of working cooperatively than when they work alone, competitively or individualistically. Students with cooperative experiences are more able to take the perspective of others, are more positive about taking part in controversy, have better developed interaction skills, and have a more positive expectation about working with others than students from competitive or individualistic settings.

Bibliography:

1. Long, M. 1991. Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching methodology. Amsterdam.

2. Gass, S. Tasks in a Pedagogical Context: Integrating Theory and Practice. Clevedon.

3. Brown, S. 1994. Integrating grammar instruction and communicative language use through grammar consciousness-raising tasks.